Long distances commutes via land, sea, and air have become commonplace for both business and pleasure. During those commutes, the passenger spends most of their time seated, sometimes in a partially reclined position. As a result, passengers often fall asleep in their seats out of the boredom of being confined to their seat or due to fatigue from rising early or working late.
In 2008, a survey was conducted to gather data on how airplane seats affect travelers' backs and necks. The hypothesis that a majority of air passengers, even those that stay awake during flight, develop back and/or neck pain after a flight was confirmed by the survey. The results of that survey, depicted graphically in FIGS. 1-4, demonstrate that 69% of all air travelers developed neck pain after their flight, 74% of air travelers indicated that they would be willing to pay extra to be able to have a special seat that would help alleviate back/neck pain from travel, and that as many as 25% of respondents would be willing to pay at least $51 for a more comfortable travel experience.
It is common knowledge the neck and upper back muscles will relax when a person enters active or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. When that person falls asleep in an upright or slightly inclined position the head loses its support and will fall away from its vertical axis. When the head is resting against a head rest and the person falls asleep, the head may fall forward, roll to the left side or the right side, or fall forward and roll to one side, all of which negate the natural alignment of the spine. The movement of the head may become more frequent and forceful in turbulent travel conditions. Moreover, the head may jerk to compensate for an unsafe imbalance of mass away from the vertical axis. Due to sudden movement, vertebra in your neck can misalign, this in turn presses on nerves that in turn can cause neck muscle spasms. Since the average person's head weighs 5 to 6 kg (approximately 12 to 14 lbs), the head is designed to distribute weight evenly from front to back and side to side so as to not cause unnecessary strain on ligaments, tendons, and muscles.
Complaints of tension, neck pain, headache, and fatigue are common after waking from sleep where the person's head is in movement or comes to rest in an unnatural position. The position of the head while sleeping may affect circulation and constrict the airway in those prone to sleep apnea. Waking with neck pain after sleeping can mean that it is painful to turn your head, that the neck is stiff and perhaps even that your posture has changed slightly. Where the neck is tilted to one side this is referred to as acquired torticollis (wry neck). Adult acquired torticollis is usually able to be treated conservatively, however, as the cause is an acute problem with the musculoskeletal system. Basically, any time the neck is held in a poor posture position, the muscles become stressed and they can become fatigued.
Those who regularly suffer from torticollis and neck pain after sleeping may wish to consult their doctor and/or chiropractor to see if there is an underlying spine condition at work. Facet joint disease, disc bulging or herniation, cervical spine arthritis, or other mechanical problems could be at the root of the pain and could be exacerbated by awkward head positions or movement while sleeping. Where there is a stability problem in the spine, the muscles and ligaments often overcompensate by becoming tense, stiff and calcified, and new bone may even develop as bone spurs to try to restore stability in frequent travelers. Swelling and inflammation in the neck can also arise as a way of restricting damaging movements through hyper-flexibility. Using anti-inflammatories and pain relief medications may help in the short term in such cases but the problem will likely persist unless the underlying cause is dealt with effectively. The above issues and many other issues may be found discussed in non-patent literature regarding neck health and neck health while traveling.